Age: 47
Party: Democrat — write-in candidate
Experience?
First, I have a bachelor's degree in business administration from Fort Hays, which encompasses a lot of what the Clerk's Office does. I have through different job experiences managed up to 20 to 25 people on a team at a time. I have managed a couple of retail stories, so I have worked with budgets and payroll and HR functions.
Why are you running for the Clerk’s Office?
When I first decided to run, it was because I felt if we are having an election, people should have a choice in who they are voting for. After the voting machine snafu in 2018, I looked a little more into offices. I thought this fit with my qualifications. I really liked the idea of the voting portion of it — the Election Officer.
I think our Clerk's Office has made a lot of mistakes that don't need to be made. When we don't have a choice in who is there, I don't think that is fair to the people in Ellis County.
Editor's note: Mail-in ballots went out in Ellis County for the 2020 General Election that listed the Kansas Senate race as the U.S. Senate race. Allen is referencing that ballot error in the answer to the next question.
See Related Story: Ellis Co. ballot misprint could be issue if Bollier, Marshall race is close
What mistakes specifically do you feel have been made?
The ballots are wrong to begin with. That is a huge thing. I don't know why our Clerk's Office decided to initial ballots separately. There is supposed to be an identifying mark that is consistent to each ballot, according to the Secretary of State, to verify its authenticity to as coming from the Clerk's Office.
Many other counties have used stamps. We can't because the voting equipment that we spent a lot of money on doesn't allow for stamp ink to be read. The next option would be for one person to initial all of the ballots so those initials were the same as opposed to different initials for the people who work in the Clerk's Office. That was a mistake that was made.
A couple of weeks ago the Deputy Clerk told people if they had an unexpunged felony on their record, they couldn't vote. And that is not true. That is incorrect information. She posted an apology for misinformation on her Facebook. That concerns me, I don't know how many people over the last eight years were told they couldn't vote when they are certainly eligible to vote.
Editor's note: In Kansas, a federal or state felony conviction results in the loss of voting rights until the terms of the felony sentence is complete. A sentence is not considered complete until probation or parole is finished. Individuals who lose their voting rights due to a felony conviction may re-register to vote upon completion of their sentence. Information from sos.ks.gov.
Bobbi Dreiling did on her Bobbi Dreiling for Ellis County Clerk Facebook page make a reference to felons being unable to vote. The post was made on Sept. 29. Dreiling posted a correction on Oct. 6 on that same Facebook page.
Do you differentiate at all between the current Clerk, Donna Maskus, and Deputy Clerk Bobbi Dreiling, who is running in this election?
I think as the Deputy Clerk they should take responsibility for each other. I don't think it should be differentiated. That office is one and the same. I would hope if the office is being run in the manner that it should be that the Deputy Clerk has some type of say in those decisions.
I hate to think the ballot snafu was Donna Maskus looking at the ballot and no one else proofreading it. There is also another statute that says that ballot is supposed to be sent to the candidates and the respective political parties in the county. Donna said she believed those went out. I double checked, and none of the other candidates got those ballots in the mail. There were opportunities for that mistake to have been caught.
Yes, while the Deputy Clerk is not who is currently in charge, based on her telling us she has eight years of experience in that office, I would hope she has experience with things like proofreading a ballot.
What do you think the Clerk can do to promote higher voter turnout?
I feel there is a lot to be said for engagement. I don't feel like I am completely removed from the things that go on in Ellis County. I don't see much, except around the time there is an election.
I think we should have voter registrations at different events. I don't see those sorts of things happening.
My daughter is in high school and until my son asked her to join the Young Democrats, I don't think she has been talked to at school about voting. The election process and the Clerk's Office, even though I have to run under a political party and everybody has to run under a political party, I don't believe that should be in any way partisan.
Everybody should vote. I want everybody to vote. If we go to the high school and talk to the classes about voting, we want Republicans to vote. We want Democrats to vote — everybody to have their voice heard.
My daughter had never been talked to at school. My son graduated just last year. I don't believe anyone had talked to him at school. There is a community outreach, but I think there should be community involvement in getting people to vote — working with the college and getting those kids to vote. Making sure we are going out of our way to help the people who want to vote, give them the right information. Get it out there. Have events.
What do you think the Clerk can do to secure election results?
I think it is important that it be non-partisan teamwork. I know there are a lot of groups. I hate there seems to be so much animosity between said groups.
I know [County Clerk Donna Maskus] actually has reached out to the Democratic Party and kept us informed now of how those votes will be counted and opened and that sort of thing, and that's great. I think allowing people the access and seeing how that is handled, I think that goes a long way to at least calming people's fears a little bit about the security of the election. There is a transparency there that I think would really make a difference.
What can be done to ensure the accuracy of election results and their reporting?
I think working together with other groups. Not to say there should be huge numbers of people in any voting scenario, but I think there is something to be said for letting the local Democratic Party, the local Republican Party and candidates be a part of that process. Their checks and balances make a huge difference.
The Clerk's Office does not have to be an entity in and of its self. There is a network of county offices and people. I think if you utilize that, there is a huge resource there to help ensure the integrity and the accuracy of the counting and reporting.
In what other ways do you think the Clerk’s Office functions and service to the community can be improved?
To be fair, I don't have a lot of experience with the Clerk's functions. I would assume that accounting functions and statute functions don't have a whole lot of leeway. I am going to guess some of those Clerk functions like the tax liens and the alcoholic beverage forms and that sort of thing — you don't have a lot of leeway there. It has to be done correctly. As far as the Clerk functions go, there is not a lot that can be changed there.
I am sure there are also some functions on the election side of things, that we could think outside of the box a little bit and be open and willing to accept the idea that there may be a better way to do things rather than the way that it has always been done. I think that is a step in the right direction.
Why do you think you are more qualified than your opponent?
I believe No. 1 my resume qualifications are a better. I do believe probably 90 percent of the Clerk functions are something that we have covered or that I learned in order to get my business degree. I also think that the budgeting, payroll and the HR functions I have already dealt with have a lot to do with what happens in the Clerk's Office.
At the same time, I also think I have an openness and willingness to see there might be better ways to do things. And to say I don't know how this works so I want to find the right answer as opposed to thinking this is the way it's always been done so this is the right answer.